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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap. Copyright No 



Shelf. 






UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 






THE 



CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS 



BY 

THE REV. G. H. C. MACGREGOR, M.A. 

AUTHOR OF " A HOLY LIFE," " PRAYING TO 
THE HOLY GHOST." ETC. 



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NEW YORK : 46 East i 4 th Street 

THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY 

BOSTON : 100 Purchase Street 



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The hihk kv 
of Congress 



WASHINGTON 



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Copyright, 1897, 
By T. Y. CROWELL & CO. 



Nortoooti ^nsg 

J. S. Cushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith 
Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 
After the Vision of God . 



PAGE 

5 



CHAPTER II. 
After the Friendship of God ...... 9 

CHAPTER III. 
After Walking with God ....... 13 

CHAPTER IV 
After Delight in God's Will . . . . . .16 

CHAPTER V. 
After Love of God's Word ...... 20 

CHAPTER VI. 
After Power in Prayer . . . . 25 

CHAPTER VII. 
After the Fire of Love ....... 29 



4 CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER VIII. 

PAGE 

After a Contented Spirit ....... 34 



CHAPTER IX. 
After Power to Redeem the Time ..... 37 

CHAPTER X. 
After a Sense of Divine Guidance . . . . . 41 

CHAPTER XL 
After the Power to Wait ...... 45 

CHAPTER XII. 
After a Complete Life ....... 49 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE ASPIRATIOX AFTER THE VISION OF GOD. 

" And he said, 'I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory ' " (Exod. 
xxxiii. 18). 

This is the highest aspiration of the human soul. 
Higher than this man cannot get. All that we long for 
is summed up in the vision of God. When that vision 
in unclouded splendor breaks on a man's soul, he is 
already in heaven. 

But this aspiration, although the highest aspiration of 
the soul, is found in the lowest of men. Wherever a 
man is found, there is a being within whom there is a 
simply unappeasable thirst for God. This thirst is in- 
eradicable, being an original attribute of the soul made 
in the image of Gocl. 

In the unconverted, this longing for God, although 
present, is covered up. The affections of the unsaved 
cling round the things of earth. But in the regenerate, 
the longing for God simply flames forth. When God 
quickens a soul, and reveals Himself to it in any meas- 
ure, He awakens in it an unquenchable longing for fur- 
ther revelation. The soul which has once seen God, 
yearns for fuller vision; for vision means knowledge, 
and knowledge means bliss. 

5 



b THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

Of this longing for the vision of God, we have many 
examples in Scripture. Look at Moses. Here was a 
man to whom God had given everything a man could 
desire. He had 'wisdom, knowledge, riches, and power. 
He had favor with God and man. But all that could 
not satisfy him. The cry of his life was, " I beseech 
Thee, show me Thy glory." 

Or take the case of Job. The vision which Moses felt 
was necessary for work, Job felt was needful for suffering. 
The whole of that wonderful book is a cry for God, a cry 
which is only satisfied when Job can say, "Now my eye 
seeth Thee." Or take the book of Psalms. The deepest 
cry of that is the cry for the vision of God. The writer 
of the sixty-third Psalm expresses the feelings of all 
when he says : " My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh 
longeth for Thee in a dry land where no water is ; to see 
Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the 
sanctuary." 

This vision of God after which the soul aspires is 
threefold : — 

I. It is a vision of the Divine Majesty. This was what 
God granted to Job. He made His power to pass 
before Job, showing Him the Divine strength as it is 
manifested in the works of creation until the soul of the 
patriarch was overwhelmed (Job xlii. 5). 

II. It is a vision of the Divine Holiness. This was 
what God granted to Isaiah. As he beheld the Lord 
high and lifted up, and the dazzling purity of God 
flashed in upon his soul, there burst from him the cry : 
"Woe is me, for I am undone, for I am a man of un- 
clean lips, and dwell among a people of unclean lips, 
for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts " 
(Isa. vi. 5). 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 7 

III. It is a vision of the Divine Love. This was what 
God granted to Moses. You remember that when Moses 
cried, " I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory/' the reply 
of the Lord was, "I will make all My goodness pass 
before thee." The glory that Moses saw was the glory 
of the Divine love. 

This, then, is the vision of God for which all Christian 
hearts are longing. 

NOW, THIS ASPIRATION OF THE SOUL IS OXE WHICH GOD 
WILL CERTAINLY SATISFY. 

God sometimes hides Himself; but to the soul who is 
patient He will reveal Himself at last. He has not said 
to any one, Seek ye My face in vain. That He will reveal 
Himself, He gave us the assurance when He said, " Look 
unto Me, and be ye saved." 

It was that He might satisfy this longing of the soul 
of man that He gave Jesus to the world. That men 
might see God it was needful that God should become 
incarnate, " No man hath seen God at any time ; the 
Only Begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, 
He hath declared Him." Now, He says, " He that hath 
seen Me hath seen the Father," and calls to us, " Behold 
the Lamb of God." 

But if we would see God, there are certain conditions 
to which we must conform. They are these : — 

I. We must be in the cleft of the Rock. 

It was only after being safely hidden there, that 
Moses dared look upon God. Until we are reconciled to 
God in Jesus Christ the vision of God is impossible. 
" The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them 
that believe not." It is eyes which have been touched 
with the precious blood, that alone see God. 

II. We must look for God only in Jesus Christ. 



8 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

This is not an unnecessary rule. There are some most 
devout people who seem to use Jesus Christ as a means 
for getting to the Father, but who seem to think that 
this getting to the Father will take them past, and away 
from the Son. This has been the mistake of mystics in 
all ages. Those who fall into it show that they have 
never properly grasped the teaching of the Scriptures 
about the Deity of Jesus. The vision of God that 
we long for is the vision of the glory of Jesus. We 
are to see the Glory of God in "the face of Christ 
Jesus." 

III. Our eyes must be ever towards the Lord. 

Just as upon the eye that is steadfastly directed towards 
any part of the heavens, there breaks the vision of stars 
before unseen ; just as upon the sensitive plate which is 
long exposed, there are registered stars, at first quite in- 
visible even to it, so to the soul whose gaze is unceas- 
ingly directed toward God, there is granted a vision of 
His glory, of which the soul who has not learned to wait 
on God can know nothing. 

But if these conditions are fulfilled, then the aspira- 
tion of the soul will be satisfied. The glory of the Lord 
will be revealed. We shall see it, and adore. 

And what will be the effect on our souls? It will be 
fivefold : — 

(1) There will be self-condemnation. This is the effect 
of the vision of the Divine Majesty. When, like Job, 
we see the majesty of God, we abhor ourselves, and 
repent in dust and ashes. 

(2) There will be self-abhorrence. This is the effect of 
the vision of the Divine Holiness. When there is granted 
to us the vision of God, we shall be smitten to the ground, 
as Isaiah was. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 9 

(3) There will be self-abasement. This is the effect of 
the vision of the Divine Love. When, like Moses, 
we see the glory of God, we shall bow the head and 
worship. 

(4) There will be transfiguration. As we behold the 
glory of the Lord, we shall be changed into the same 
image from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord. 

(5) There will be satisfaction. Joy there will be at 
once, with increasing knowledge, increasing joy, and at 
last the beatific vision. " As for me, I will behold Thy 
face in righteousness ; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, 
with Thy likeness.*' 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ASPIRATIOX AFTER THE FRIENDSHIP OF GOB. 

'•' He was called the Friend of God" (Jas. ii. 23). 

The praises of Friendship have been sung in all ages 
of the world. In prose and poetry, its virtues have been 
extolled. Consequently, the definitions of it are innu- 
merable. At one or two of these we may now look. 

Plato says: " Friendship is, strictly speaking, recip- 
rocal benevolence, which inclines each party to be solici- 
tous for the welfare of the other, as for his own. This 
quality of affection is created and preserved by a simi- 
larity of disposition and manner." 

Fleming says : " Friendship is the mutual esteem and 
regard cherished by kindred minds; often begun, and 
always cemented, by the interchange of good offices." 

Bishop Martens.en says: " Friendship is a union be- 
tween individuals, for mutual help and strength, founded 
not on respect alone, but on sympathy." 



10 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

Friendship is a want of human nature ; and the long- 
ing for friendship, which is universal, is the expression 
of a deep need of the human soul. 

There are, in particular, four great evils which afflict 
humanity, a refuge from which is sought in friendship. 

(1) The first of these is Loneliness. Man is a social 
being, and protests against being left alone. Loneliness 
is one of the bitterest trials of "life. All of us know that 
the worst kind of imprisonment is solitary confinement. 
Those who are subjected to it for any long period invari- 
ably go mad. From the bitterness of loneliness, refuge 
is sought in the companionship of friends. 

(2) The second evil is Sorrow. When a heavy bereave- 
ment falls on us, when a sore sickness distresses us, 
there is awakened in the human heart an inappeasable 
longing for sympathy. We want to tell our griefs to 
some one, in whose heart they will awaken a sympathetic 
grief. But sympathy can only be found in the heart of 
a friend. 

(3) The third evil is Perplexity. Life is tangled and 
difficult. At times we, are panic-stricken by our difficul- 
ties. We know not how to act, the perplexity is mad- 
dening, and we long for advice. We long to have some 
one to whom we can submit our case, and whom we can 
trust to give us the aid of his wisdom. But this we can 
find only in a friend. 

(4) The fourth evil is Weakness. At times dangers 
will threaten us which we cannot avoid, and blows will 
fall which quite disable us. Then we need more than 
advice or sympathy ; we need succor, and only from our 
friends can we get it. 

These are the evils, great and terrible, for which 
friendship supplies the remedy. A friend's companion- 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 11 

ship will remove loneliness ; a friend's sympathy will 
lighten sorrow; a friend's advice will remove perplexity : 
and, ofttimes, a friend's succor will save us from ruin. 

But, while human friendship can do so much, there 
constantly arise situations in life where the best of 
earthly friends fail. By the call of duty, or by death, 
our friends may be removed from us, and we be deprived 
of their companionship ; sorrows may fall on us too deep 
for them to fathom, and their sympathy be utterly 
vain ; perplexities may arise which they are powerless to 
unravel, and difficulties may come in presence of which 
they are as weak as ourselves. 

So there arises a longing for a companionship that 
will never be broken, for a sympathy that will never 
misunderstand, for a wisdom that will never be baffled, 
for a strength that will never fail. This longing is the 
cry of the human heart for the friendship of God. 

This longing, which is found in all hearts, becomes 
perfectly definite and conscious in the heart of the 
Christian. ]N"ow, what is the path which leads to the 
friendship of God ? 

We shall be able to answer this question by noticing 
what are the conditions of any true friendship. 

(1) In order to friendship there must be community of 
nature. It is only by a use of metaphor that we speak 
of the dog as the friend of man. Friendship implies kin- 
ship of nature. Therefore, if we would be the friends of 
God, we must become " partakers of the Divine nature." 
And this we can only become through being born 
again. 

(2) There must be community of feeling. A man may 
love those who do not love him, but friendship is mutual. 
If we are to be the friends of God, God's love to us 



12 , THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

must be met by a responsive love. But this implies 
reconciliation. For we do not naturally love God. We 
are aliens and enemies in our minds by wicked works. 
It is at the cross of Jesus Christ, where He has recon- 
ciled all thing unto Himself, that the sinful soul enters 
on the friendship of God. 

(3) There must be perfect trust. Where there is sus- 
picion friendship cannot live. Unless we are ready to 
believe that our God will never do for us less than the 
very best, the true bliss of His friendship cannot be 
ours. 

(4) There must be obedience. This is not necessary 
for an earthly friendship, but it is absolutely necessary 
for the soul that would know the friendship of God. 
Jesus Christ has told us quite distinctly : " Ye are My 
friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you " (John xv. 
14). 

These, then, are the conditions of the Divine friend- 
ship. If we fulfil them, how bright the glory that will 
burst upon our souls ! There will be given to us a com- 
panionship which will never be broken, a sympathy 
which will never fail, a wisdom to which all things are 
clear, and a strength to which all things are easy. 

But, in addition to these blessings, there are others 
into which the Divine friendship introduces us. These 
we can only mention in a word. : 

(a) There is a 'knowledge of the Divine counsels (Gen. 
xviii. 17 ; John xv. 15). When we become the friends 
of God, He reveals to us the things which He is about 
to do. 

(b) There is a vision of the Divine glory (Exod. xxxiii. 
17). 

(c) There is a share in the Divine wor*k ; and, finally, 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 13 

(d) There is a likeness to the Divine person. The vision 
of God in glory is the climax of spiritual bliss. And 
we are told we shall be like Him, when we see Him as 
He is. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE ASPIRATION AFTER WALKIXG WITH GOD. 

"Enoch walked with God" (Gen. v. 24). 

This aspiration of the soul is one which naturally fol- 
lows that which we last considered. It is he who knows 
something of the friendship of God, who aspires to walk 
with God. For walking with God is one of the most 
blessed characteristics of the life of friendship. 

Of only three of the Old Testament saints is it expressly 
said that they walked with God. But though the phrase 
is only used of Enoch, Noah, and Levi, the experience 
was by no means confined to them. Abraham knew what 
it was to walk with God, and it was with God beside him 
that he made his way from Ur of the Chaldees to the 
land of the promise. Moses knew^ this experience, and 
it was the presence of God with him that nerved him for 
the almost superhuman task to which he was called. 
David knew it, and it was with God beside him that he 
rose to the throne of Israel. And the experience which 
these enjoyed has been the experiences of countless 
thousands of men and women through all the ages. 

But what is meant by walking with God ? It is not 
an act, nor yet a series of acts, but a condition of life 
consistently maintained through years. Enoch, we are 
told, walked with God three hundred years. Walking 
with God was no exceptional experience with him. It 



1-t THE CHRISTIAN 1 S ASPIRATIONS. 

was the normal condition of his life. So it should be 
with ns. Our whole life, the daily life which is apt to 
be so monotonous, is meant to be lived in quiet calm 
fellowship with God. Life is not made up of rapture. 
Rapturous experiences can only be occasional. But in 
the daily round of life we are meant to walk with God. 

If you ask me what is the chief characteristic of the 
man who is walking with God, I reply, his continual 
consciousness of God. It is in this that the heart of the 
matter consists. Of the man who walks with God it 
may be said that the thought of God is never out of 
his mind. He is always conscious of God, or I would 
prefer to say sub-conscious. He lives in God as in the 
atmosphere. 

But how is this experience to be ours ? 

This walk, like all walks, must have a Starting 
Point, a Direction, and a Goal. At these we shall 
briefly look. 

I. The Starting Point is the Cross. 

Fellowship with God for sinners is possible only on 
the basis of atonement. It is by the blood of Jesus that 
we have access to the presence of God. How wonderful 
it is to turn to the Scriptures to see what we owe to the 
lood. In Exodus, Moses tells us of deliverance through 
the blood (Exodus xii. 13) ; in the Pauline Epistles we 
read of pardon, justification, peace, access through the 
blood. Peter tells us of redemption, John of cleansing, 
the Apocalypse of victory, and all through the blood. 
He who is not washed in the blood will never walk with 
God, and the walk cannot be continued if for a moment 
the power of the blood is forgotten. God waits at the 
cross to meet the sinner, and from that point only can 
the walk with God begin. 



THE CHRISTIAN' S ASPIRATIONS. 15 

II. The Direction is the Lixe of the Will of 
God. 

The path in which we walk with God is the path 
of God's commandments. The Christian's desire must 
never be that God should go his way, but ever that he 
should go God's way. The Christian should desire, not 
so much always to have God with him, as always to be 
with God. It is most instructive to see how intense this 
desire was in the heart of the Psalmist. In Psalm after 
Psalm we have the cry, " Teach me Thy way," " Make 
me to run in the path of Thy commandments, for I de- 
light therein." God keeps ever in the line of His will, 
and if we would walk with Him, we must keep there 
also. We lose God when we gain our own way. How 
true this is, the histories of Abraham and Balaam teach us. 

III. The Goal of the Walk is a Life which may 
be described as having xoxe of self, and all of 
God. 

This is beautifully brought out in the story of Enoch. 
There we read that " Enoch walked with God, and ivas 
not." By the consciousness of God, the consciousness of 
self is gradually extinguished. That death to self, for 
which so many long, is a consequence of fellowship with 
God. When we walk with God, our life becomes one of 
which w^e can say, " It is not I that live ; but Christ liveth 
in me." Xothing but the continual consciousness of God 
will effect this. It is something brought about not by 
effort and strain, but by restful trust. And what a change 
it makes ! The " I " hot-tempered, proud, foolish, dis- 
obedient, deceived, envious, hateful and hating others, 
gives place to the " Christ " meek, lowly, obedient, self- 
denying, and loving. So we die to self, and live to 
God. 



16 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

But in the story of Enoch, we read that he was not, 
" for God took him." This reminds us that the God who 
led him out of a life the centre of which was self, led 
him into a life of joy and courage and unbroken peace. 
Thus he was fitted for that which was the crown of his 
life, his translation into the presence of the Lord. 

For us who live so far down the stream of time how 
great the significance of this fact! It shows us that the 
life that walks with God is a life, I do not say ready for 
death, but ready for translation. Are you walking with 
God ? Then you also, like Enoch, are ready to be trans- 
lated. Of how many of us is this true ? How many of 
us are ready for the coming of the Lord ? It is near us 
now, and coming nearer every day. May God help us 
all so to walk with Him that we shall look for and 
hasten unto the coming of our Lord, and to His promise, 
" Behold, I come quickly/' answer with the prayer, 
" Even so, come, Lord Jesus." 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE ASPIRATION AFTER DELIGHT IN GOD'S WILL. 

" I delight to do Thy will, O my God " (Psalms xl. 8). 

" It is very hard, but I suppose I must put up with it, 
seeing it is the will of God." This is the language which 
is only too frequently heard on the lips of God's children. 
If we have not all used it, we have all had the feelings 
which the words express. It is because we feel that we 
ought to rejoice in God's will, yet know that we do not 
rejoice in it, that the prayer for delight in the will of 
God is so frequently and earnestly offered. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 17 

That a Christian should not rejoice in his Father's will 
is sad ; but it is hardly to be wondered at. God is so 
mysterious. He is constantly doing things which seem 
arbitrary, and He rarely explains Himself. 

His delays are mysterious — at times, maddening. He 
lets our Lazarus die before out eyes, when it seems to us 
that if He had hastened but a little He might have saved 
us from our sorrow. We cry in our pain, " Lord, if Thou 
hadst been here, our brother had not died " ; but Jesus 
comes not to raise our Lazarus, and as we weep over our 
dead we say sadly, " The will of the Lord be done." 

Then the movements of God are as mysterious as His 
delays. How often when we thought we had come to 
a quiet resting-place, He has stirred us up, and sent us 
out to meet pain and sorrow. 

It is these things, and things like them, that make us 
feel that we do not delight in God's will, and make us 
aspire so earnestly after true joy in it. Xow let us lay 
to heart, this is an aspiration which may be fulfilled. It is 
possible for us to delight in the will of God. It is possible 
for us always to delight in the will of God. 

This was the experience of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
He could always say, " I delight to do Thy will, my 
God ; yea, Thy law is within my heart." And He has 
told us that as He was so are we to be in this world. 

Then this experience was enjoyed by many of the Old 
Testament saints. Look, for example, at the writer of 
Psalm cxix. There was a man who found the deepest 
delight of his life in the will of God. His whole Psalm 
is a hymn of praise to the will of God, and in every verse 
of it there is a reference to the will of God, either as law, 
or testimony, or precept, or statute, or word. In the 
twenty-fourth verse he expressly says, " Thy testimonies 
are" my delight." 



18 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

And this experience is enjoyed by many round about 
us. Not long ago I met a man who said to me, " I have 
come from long experience of the will of God so to re- 
joice in it, that if God said to me, Go, lie down on the 
road and die, I would do it with the greatest pleasure. 
I cannot conceive anything so delightful as the will of 
God." Another said to me, " For years I have let God 
manage my life, and He has done it so well that I would 
never dream of taking it out of His hands." 

These men were not boasting. Both of them are 
among the humblest men I have ever met. They were 
just confessing what all who give themselves up to do 
the will of God confess — that in the will of God is the 
purest source of human joy. 

But if this experience is attainable, how are we to 
attain it ? For the attainment of it, I think the follow- 
ing rules may be helpful. 

(1) Settle it in your mind that the will of God is always 
good, and that, therefore, it is a reasonable thing to de- 
light in it. Delight is, no doubt, a matter of the affec- 
tions rather than of the reason, but to convince the reason 
of the righteousness of any feeling is a great help towards 
the awakening of that feeling. When I say that we 
ought to convince ourselves that the will of God is good, 
I virtually say that we ought to take pains to know the 
will of God. If I study the will of God as it is revealed 
in the Bible, I can scarcely help falling in love with it. 
Why ! what is the will of God ? For those that are 
lost? "As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in 
the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his 
evil way, and live " (Ezek. xxxiii. 11). "This is the will 
of Him that sent Me, that every one that seeth the Son, 
and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life " (John 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 19 

vi. 40). For those that are saved ? " Fear not, little 
flock, it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the 
Kingdom." " This is the Father's will which hath sent 
Me, that of all which he hath given Me I should lose 
nothing, but raise it up again at the last day " (John vi. 
39). "This is the will of God, even your sanctineation " 
(1 Thess. iv. 3). " In everything give thanks, for this is 
the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thess. 
v. 18). In the will of God there is everything of bless- 
ing for His people. If we really knew, as we may know 
from His Word, what God wills, we should not find it 
hard to say "Thy will be done." 

(2) Remember that there is within you a principle of life 
which makes it easy for you to delight in the will of God. 

This was given you in regeneration. Previously there 
was within you a carnal heart, which was at enmity against 
God, and an evil heart of unbelief, which departed from 
the Living God. But now, being in Christ, you are new 
creatures, with a new love ruling your life. You can 
now say, " I delight in the law of God after the inward 
man." The nature of the new life given to you is such, 
that as a flower turns to the sun, so you turn to God. It 
is natural for your new nature to rejoice in God's will. 
Let your new nature have scope. Yield it up to the 
Holy Spirit, that He may fill it, and He will give you 
such a vision of the glory of God's will as will ravish 
your soul. 

(3) Give yourself up in cdl circumstances, and at all times, 
to do the will of God. 

After all, the secret of delighting in God's will is to 
do it. Only when it is accepted and carried out does the 
joy it leads to become ours. Obedience, which is the 
path of knowledge, is also the path of gladness. When 



20 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

a man is determined to do the will of God, whether he 
likes it or not, he soon finds in it a source of unfailing 
joy, until at last he can come to sing words like 
these : — 

Thou sweet, beloved will of God, 
My anchor ground, my fortress hill, 

My spirit's silent fair abode, 
In Thee I hide me, and am still. 

Thy wonderful grand will, my God, rj_ J 

With triumph now I make it mine ; 

And faith shall cry a joyous Yes ! 

To every dear command of Thine. - 1 



CHAPTER V. 



THE ASPIRATION 

"Thy Word is very pure; therefore Thy servant loveth it" 
(Psalm cxix. 140). 

All of us have often read the 119th Psalm, and all of 
us must often in our secret hearts have envied the writer 
of it. For he was a man in whose case the aspiration we 
are now considering was fulfilled in quite an unusual 
degree. That man had a perfect passion for the Word of 
God. In his wonderful Psalm eveiy verse is devoted to 
the praise of God's Word. This man could never get 
over the fact that God should have revealed Himself at 
all. It is to him matter of constant adoration and praise. 
Therefore, he naturally delights in the revelation God 
had given. See how this comes out in the Psalm. At 
the beginning he confesses, "Thy Word have I hid in 
my heart, that I might not sin against Thee." A little 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 21 

later comes the verse, " I trust in Thy Word." As he 
reaches the middle of the Psalm he exclaims, " Thy Word 
is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path " ; while, as 
he nears the close of his Psalm, he cries aloud, "I rejoice 
at Thy Word, as one that tindeth great spoil." Here 
was a man who, though his Bible was small, esteemed it 
more than his necessary food. 

With many of us how different it is ! We have often 
to complain of a lack of real interest in the Bible. We 
read it, of course, and we urge others to read it. But we 
have no deep delight in the reading of it. Some of us 
love non-religious books better than the Bible.' Judged 
by the time we give to them, the newspaper, the novel, 
the book of travel, are of more importance in our eyes 
than the Word of God. Even if we will not acknowledge 
that we regard them as more important, we have to 
acknowledge that we find them more interesting. To 
the books of the world we go spontaneously, while to the 
Book of God we have to be drawn by a sense of duty. 

And some of us love books about the Bible more than 
the Bible itself. To put the use of devotional manuals 
in place of the study of the Word of Gocl is one of the 
subtlest dangers to which an earnest Christian is ex- 
posed. He who tries to nourish his soul on man's 
thoughts about the Word of God, will find himself 
starved. Yet this is what thousands habitually do. 

However, we do study the Bible. Most of us are prob- 
ably members of one or other of those Scripture Unions, 
which have done such incalculable good in promoting 
the reading of God's Word. We read the Bible, but we 
find it very dry. It is so distressingly familiar. We 
know what is coming, and our minds wander in spite 
of ourselves. Like the Israelites in the wilderness, we 



22 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

feel inclined to cry, " Give us something new to eat, for 
our souls loathe this manna." 

This distaste for the Word of God is a real and pain- 
ful fact in the experience of many of God's people. 
They know it and bewail it, and cry out for deliverance 
from it. Whence comes this evil, and hoiv may it be cured ?. 

(1) Our lack of appetite for our heavenly food may be 
due to something in ourselves. 

Lack of appetite is always regarded by physicians as 
a symptom of illness. If the general state of our spirit- 
ual life is low, if we are living out of fellowship with 
God, or living in worldliness and self-indulgence, no 
wonder if we have little love for the Word of God. If 
there is some one with whom we have a quarrel, and 
whom we will not forgive ; if there is some plain duty 
which we will not perform, — no wonder that we fear the 
Bible. If this be so, let us remember there is no path 
to love of the Bible except through the blood that cleanses 
from all sin. We must make full confession of our sin, 
we must heartily renounce it, we must surrender our- 
selves to God. And when He has received us, and 
restored our spiritual health, with returning health will 
come returning appetite. 

(2) But our lack of appetite for the Word of God may 
be due, not so much to spiritual sickness, as to the manner 
in which we take our food. Good food badly served may 
nauseate a healthy and hungry man. 

I believe that false methods of reading and studying 
the Bible have much to do with the prevailing lack of 
interest in it. We study our Bibles mechanically, we 
tramp monotonously along the beaten paths, and then 
complain of want of freshness. The fault is not in the 
Bible, but in us, who do not give it a fair chance. 



THE CHBISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 23 

The following practical rules may now be given to 
help us to a deeper love of the Word of God. If we 
would love our Bible : — 

(a) Let us study it regularly. 

We should not forget that the love of God's Word is 
an acquired taste. If we cease to use it, we cease to 
relish it. That we find the study of it dry, must not 
deter us from continuing our study, for the Bible some- 
times will yield its sweetness only to the man who beats 
it out. There is need of importunity in Bible reading, 
as well as in prayer. Let us, then, study regularly and 
patiently, and we shall be richly rewarded. 

(b) Let us vary our methods of studying the Bible. 
This is one of the best ways for securing that our 

Bible-reading shall be always fresh. When we have got 
all we can get by working along one line, let us take 
another. At one time we may take the Bible telescopi- 
cally. We may take a book at a time and endeavor to 
grasp its message. We may run rapidly through its 
chapters, not so much to see what they individually con- 
tain as to see what is the impression the book taken as 
a whole makes upon us. 

At another time we may take the Bible microscopically. 
Instead of occupying ourselves with books, we may oc- 
cupy ourselves with words. This is a profoundly inter- 
esting method of study, and the more it is followed, the 
deeper does the conviction sink into the mind of the 
plenary inspiration of God's holy Word. This method 
at its best is only open to those who know the original 
Bible languages, but with the aid of a book like Strong's 
" Exhaustive Concordance " much may be done by the 
English reader. As an example of this method, we 
might take the word "help." In the Xew Testament, 



24 THE CHBISTIAN' S ASPIRATIONS. 

seven words are employed to denote the idea of help, 
and the usage of them is so exact, that in no case conld 
one of them be put for the other without a loss of power. 
The same method of study applied to the words for 
" sin/' or the words for "prayer/ 7 yields most remarkable 
results. 

Again, we may read the Bible chronologically. We 
may subordinate everything for the time to getting an 
accurate idea of the development of God's revelation of 
Himself. It will give a fresh interest to our reading 
of the Bible to trace the order in which the great truths 
of revelation were revealed. 

Or we may read the Bible topically. We may go 
through book after book, or writer after writer, to find 
what each has taught on the great subjects which the 
Bible brings before us. 

There is almost an unlimited number of ways in which 
the Bible may be treated, and each, as it is taken up in 
turn, will give a fresh interest to our reading. 

(c) Turn the Bible into prayer. 

This is a most important rule. When used in this 
way, the Bible becomes an amazing help to the growth 
of our spiritual life. It is hard not to be interested in 
a Scripture narrative, if while reading it we are praying 
God to work it out again in our own souls. 

But, above all, if you would have a genuine love for 
the word of God, 

(d) Depend upon the Holy Ghost to make the Bible living 
and fresh to you. As our failures in prayer are largely 
due to our forgetfulness of the special work which the 
Holy Ghost is ready to do for us in prayer, so our failure 
in Bible reading is often due to a similar cause. The 
Word of God without the Spirit of God will always be 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 25 

dry and powerless. Just as the joy of prayer is only 
known when we pray in the Holy Ghost, so the true joy 
of feeding on the Word is known only by those who 
give themselves up to be led by the Holy Ghost into all 
truth. If our dail}~ reading of the Scriptures were al- 
ways preceded by a prayer for the help of the Spirit, 
and by the taking up of an attitude of reliance on the 
Spirit, -we should not have to complain of that lack of 
interest which troubles so many. YVe should rejoice in 
God's AYord, as one that finds great spoil. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE ASPIRATION AFTER POWER IN PRAYER. 

" As a prince thou hast power with God " (Gen. xxxii. 28). 

In the twelfth chapter of his First Epistle to the Cor- 
inthians, the Apostle Paul bids us to '-covet earnestly 
the best gifts." In no way can we better fulfil his com- 
mand than by coveting power in prayer. Eor assuredly 
it is one of God's best gifts to man. Than this there is 
nothing that brings more glory to God, or more blessing 
to human souls. And it is essentially a grace, a gift of 
God. We cannot work it in ourselves. To some men 
God gives it in a marvellous degree. To them prayer 
is a calling. It is the direction in which they are spe- 
cially called to serve God. But while some of God's 
saints have a vocation in regard to prayer, all are bound 
to learn to wield this instrument, which God in His in- 
finite grace has put into their hands. 

Power in prayer means power to use prayer for the 
purposes for which God has given it to us. Prevailing 



26 THE christian's aspibations. 

prayer is prayer that secures answers. But this means 
prayer that conforms to the Divinely appointed condi- 
tions. What these are we now proceed to discover. An 
examination of them will show that true prayer, instead 
of being an easy thing, is in reality a thing most difficult, 
and will explain to us why our prayers have so often 
failed. The teaching of Scripture in regard to the con- 
ditions of prayer is so ample that we shall not be able to 
present it fully, but we shall look at those conditions 
which are the most important. 

(1) The first condition is Heart Separation from sin. 

" If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not 
hear me " (Psalm lxvi. 18). " The sacrifice of the wicked 
is an abomination to the Lord" (Prov. xv. 8). Consecra- 
tion to God and holiness of life are necessary to prevail- 
ing prayer. A heart that loves sin, a life that is spent 
for self, are fatal hindrances to prayer. !No doubt, as the 
writer of the sixty-sixth Psalm expressly tells us, God in 
His mercy hears and answers the prayers of very unsanc- 
tified people, but such do not wield the power in prayer 
of which we are now speaking. He who ascends into the 
hill of God, and stands in His holy place, must have 
clean hands and a pure heart. 

(2) The second condition is Righteousness. This we 
are told by the Apostle James, when he says, " The sup- 
plication of a righteous man availeth much" (Jas. v. 16). 
But what is implied in that righteousness which is need- 
ful to powerful prayer ? It implies a recognition that 
this universe is a moral universe, a universe in which 
moral considerations are superior to all others. It im- 
plies a mind in sympathy with the purpose of God in the 
management of His universe. In particular, it implies a 
recognition of the absolute supremacy of God, a recogni- 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 27 

tion of His absolute sovereignty, and a total self-surrender 
to His will. This, when combined with a recognition of 
the Divine grace, puts the soul in a position in which it 
can pray with power. 

(3) The third condition is Faith. 

" He that cometh to God must believe that He is." 
Obviously, the atheist cannot pray. " And that He is a 
re warder of them that diligently seek Him " (Heb. xi. 6). 
Obviously, also, the deist and the agnostic cannot pray. 
Prayer without some measure of hope cannot exist. 
The Divine law in this matter is, " According to your 
faith be it unto you " ; therefore he who would prevail in 
prayer must ever pray, " Lord, increase our faith." 

(4) The fourth condition is Intelligence. 

God's service is ever a reasonable service. There is 
nothing arbitrary or magical in God. He never outrages 
the reason which He has implanted in man. He often 
does things which transcend our reason, but He never 
does things which contradict it. So while He gives to 
us the power of prayer, He tells us it can only be exer- 
cised u according to His will." "This is the confidence 
that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according 
to His will, He heareth us" (1 John v. 14). If we are 
to know His will we must search for it where it is made 
known to us. The aspiration after power in prayer is 
closely connected with the aspiration after love of God's 
Word, for it is only when we search the Scriptures that 
we are able always to pray according to the mind of God. 

(o) The fifth condition is Earnestness. 

This we learn from Jer. xxix. 13, " Ye shall seek Me, 
and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your 
heart." In many of our prayers it is but too evident 
that we care little whether the prayer is answered or not. 



28 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

Such prayer cannot prevail. God will not be mocked by 
a hollow approach. The value of fasting, which in many 
places in Scripture is connected with prayer, consists in 
the evidence of earnestness which it supplies. Only on 
the wings of strong desire can prayer reach the throne 
of God. 

(6) Akin to earnestness is Importunity, which is the 
next condition we mention. Importunity is just con- 
tinued earnestness. Its value in prayer we may judge 
from the fact that our Lord has given us two parables to 
illustrate its power. Importunity is the spirit of the 
wrestling Jacob (Gen. xxxii. 26) and of the Lord's re- 
membrancers, who are to keep not silence, and to give 
Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jeru- 
salem a praise in the earth (Isa. lxii.). 

(7) The seventh condition is Agreement with the people 
of God. This is a most important, but often forgotten, 
condition. It applies not only to public or common 
prayer, but also to private or secret prayer. Our Lord 
said, " If tivo of yon shall agree on earth as touching any- 
thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of 
my Father which is in heaven" (Matt, xviii. 19). This 
shows us that if we are to prevail in prayer we must 
pray with and for all saints, and be careful to live in love 
towards all the people of God. An unloving spirit, a 
spirit that seldom gives itself up to intercession, will 
never be strong in prayer. It is where brethren dwell 
together in unity that the Lord commands his blessing, 
even life for evermore (Psalm cxxxiii.). 

8. As an eighth condition we may mention Thank- 
fulness. 

In many passages of Scripture the lesson is taught us 
that if we would learn to pray we must also learn to 



THE CHRISTIANS ASPIRATIOXS. 29 

praise. To the unthankful God cannot give his best 
gifts. It was praise that filled the temple with the 
glory of God (2 Chron. v., 13) ; it was praise that shook 
the prison of Philippi to its foundations (Acts xvi. 25). 
And in Phil. iv. 6, where we have explicit directions 
about prayer, we are enjoined to combine with it thanks- 
giving. 

Two other conditions may be noticed ere we close. 

(9) If our praj^er is to prevail, it must be in the name 
of Jesus. What this means is not always realized. It 
means far more than the use of the name of Jesus at the 
end of our prayers. It means not only that we recognize 
Jesus as the ^Mediator through whom we come, but that 
we are in such sympathy with His purposes that He can 
endorse our requests. This is the great secret of pre- 
vailing prayer : " If ye ask anything in My name, I will 
do it" (John xiv. 14). 

(10) If our prayer is to prevail, it must be in the Holy 
Ghost. The importance of this condition is often over- 
looked. But true power in prayer will never be ours 
until, as we pray, we are upborne by the Spirit. As He 
teaches us what to pray for, and how to pray, our prayers 
will prevail, and we shall see abundant answers coming 
forth from the presence of God. 



CHAPTEE VII. 

THE ASPIRATIOX AFTER THE FIRE OF LOVE. 

" We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John iv. 19). 

Thax this aspiration there is none holier or better. If 
we read the biographies of the saints we shall find none 



30 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

more common. G-od is so worthy of our love. His deal- 
ings with us are so marvellous. For His mercy we can 
make no return but the return of love, and we feel that 
the return we do make is terribly inadequate. It is the 
burden of gratitude resting on our hearts that begets the 
cry for the fire of love. 

" Yet I love Thee and adore — 
Oh for grace to love Thee more.'" 

What a wonderful thing the fire of love is ! It is the 
life of the soul. As Dr. Matheson says, in that remark- 
able little book of his, " My Aspirations," " The only 
thing which is not consumed by burning is my soul. 
Fire is the death of my body, but fire is the life of my 
soul. When my goods are burned they perish, but when 
my soul takes fire it for the first time begins to live. It 
is the want of fire that consumes my soul. I want some- 
thing to lift me out of myself in order that I may be 
strong. Nothing can lift me out of myself but fire, the 
fire of the heart — love." But many of us have to con- 
fess that this love is what is most lacking in our life. 
We are not consumed by this holy flame. We are dead 
and cold, even when we hate ourselves for this coldness. 
Hence the strength of our aspiration, Hence the agony 
of our prayers. Now how shall we get this flame kindled 
in our hearts ? How shall we deal with the already 
kindled flame that it may burn more brightly and hotly? 

Our love to God, we must ever remember, is the 
answer of God's love to us. The apostle taught us this 
when he said, " We love Him because He first loved us." 
To quote Dr. Matheson again : " In Thee, Lord, let 
my heart be kindled ! Thy love alone can wake my love. 
Thy fire alone can impart fire to me. Thy light alone 



THE CHRISTIAN S ASPIRATIONS. 31 

can illuminate and warm me with that ardor which con- 
sumes not." To remember that we love God in exact 
proportion to our recognition of the Love of God to us, 
is to step into the path where the fulfilment of this" 
aspiration awaits us. 

Three things may now be mentioned which act as 
Fuel to the Fire of Love. The first of these is : 

(1) Recollection. 

When our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's 
Supper, and said, " This do in remembrance of Me," He 
took the best means possible for keeping His people's 
love to Him alive and strong. He meant that from time 
to time they should pause to consider how much they 
owed Him, and how deeply He had loved them. He 
knew that could not be done without fanning into a flame 
their love to Him. The Lord's Supper is, as we all know, 
much more than a memorial ; but one of the ways in 
which it ministers to our growth in grace is by the 
stimulus it gives to recollection. 

If we would have the fire of love burning within us, 
we must give ourselves to recollection. We must gather 
round the cradle at Bethlehem, and as we see the Child 
there, we must say, " The Word was made flesh, and 
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as 
of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and 
truth" (John i. 14). We must read the story of His 
life, until we are fascinated by it, and exclaim, " God 
anointed Him with the Holy Ghost and with power; 
who went about doing good, and healing those who were 
oppressed by the devil." We must go to Calvary, and 
look upon the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the 
world. We must look upon Him whom we have pierced 
until the greatness of His love, to us overwhelms us. 



32 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

We must raise our thoughts to the throne, where He is 
engaged in unceasing intercession for us, and our eyes to 
the clouds on which He will so soon be seen appearing ; 
and as we deal with these facts, we shallfind in them the 
fuel for the fire of love. 

But while recollection will supply the fuel, it will not 
always kindle it. This is done by — 

(2) Contemplation. 

Recollection is needful to bring the facts before our 
minds, contemplation is needful to make them sink into 
our minds. Recollection will bring us to Bethlehem, but 
it is contemplation which will make us bring forth our 
gold, frankincense, and myrrh, as we adore Him who lies 
there. Recollection will make us see the beauty of the 
life of Christ, but contemplation alone will teach us its 
meaning and its redeeming power. But above all, it is 
by contemplation that the true meaning of the Cross 
becomes plain to us. It is when, like those of old, we 
" sit down, and watch Him there " ; when we take time 
to measure the love of which the Cross speaks, that the 
fire of love begins to burn in our hearts. 

"Bearing shame and scoffing rude, 
In my place condemned He stood, 
Sealed my pardon with His blood, 
Hallelujah!" 

How truly the Divine love is the fire that kindles our 
love we can hardly know, until we have given ourselves 
up to this exercise of contemplation. As we behold the 
love of G-od, as we adore it, and rejoice in it, it descends 
into our hearts, and wakes them into the fervor of burn- 
ing zeal. The love of G-od is shed abroad in our hearts 
by the Holy Ghost, and we indeed love Him who first 
loved us. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 33 

What recollection begins, and contemplation continues, 
is further carried on by — 

(3) Confession. 

u We have known and believed/' says the apostle John, 
" the love that God hath for us " (1 John iv. 16). But 
he had previously said., " That which we have seen and 
heard declare we unto you" (1 John i. 3). When we 
confess the love of God, and tell what we know of it; 
when we tell what God has done for our souls, then these 
things become more real to us, and prove their power in 
our lives. There is no surer way of making God's love 
unreal to us, and of quenching our love to Him, than 
refusing to confess him before men. When we are en- 
deavoring to make the hearts of others burn within them 
by the recital of the love of Christ, it is certain that our 
own hearts will begin to glow. The man who says, 
u Come near, ye that fear God, I will declare what He 
hath done for my soul," will also be able to say, " I love 
the Lord." 

But we must remember that, after all, it is not we who 
make ourselves love God intensely. That is the work of 
the Holy Ghost. He it is who sheds the love of God 
abroad in our hearts, and kindles within us this sacred 
name. While, therefore, we remember, reflect, repeat, 
we must also rely. Trust the Holy Spirit to do this 
work in you, and to you will be given the joy of having 
a heart aflame with the love of God. 



34 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE ASPIRATION AFTER A CONTENTED SPIRIT. 

" Be content with such things as ye have" (Heb. xiii. 5). 

" Now, as they were going along, and talking, they 
espied a boy feeding his father's sheep. The boy was 
in very mean clothes, but of a very fresh and well-favored 
countenance; and as he sat by himself, he sang. Hark, 
said Mr. Great-heart, to what the shepherd boy saith. 
So they hearkened, and he said : — 

' He that is down needs fear no fall ; he that is low no pride ; 

He that is humble ever shall have God to be his Guide. 

I am content with what I have, little it be or much ; 

And, Lord, contentment still I crave, because Thou savest such. 

Fulness to such a burden is, that go on pilgrimage ; 

Here little, and hereafter bliss, is best from age to age.' " 

So writes Bunyan, in one of the most beautiful pictures 
of his marvel-book. And in the praise of contentment, 
he is joined by every experimental writer worth naming. 
All feel that this is one of the best of Christian graces. 
One, Jeremy Taylor, in his priceless treatise "Holy Liv- 
ing," says, " G-od has appointed one remedy for all the 
evils in the world, and that is a contented spirit. The 
man who is contented nothing can hurt. Do riches come 
to him ? It is well. Do they take wings, and fly away ? 
It is well also. Is he in health ? It is well. Does sick- 
ness fall on him ? It is well also. 

A contented spirit is the best equipment a man can 
have for facing life. He who could send his son into 
the world possessed of a contented spirit, would do more 
to secure his happiness than if he gave him all the wealth 



THE CHRISTIAN' S ASPIRATIONS. 35 

of South Africa. This is what Paul found after a long: 



experience. He had not known it at first. God had to 
teach it to him, but he regarded it as one of the most 
valuable lessons of his life. " I have learned in whatso- 
ever state I am therewith to be content. I know how to 
be abased, and I know how to abound ; everywhere, and 
in all things, I am instructed both how to be full and to 
be hungry, both to abound and suffer need " (Phil. iv. 
12). This statement of Paul tells us something about 
contentment which it is of the greatest importance for us 
to learn. It tells us that contentment is a habit of mind. 
It was something which Paul had to learn. It cost him 
effort ; it cost him time. At every stage the natural dis- 
contentedness had to be overcome. If Paul had to learn 
it, how much more have we. How it is to be learned, it 
is our duty now to discover. 

For cultivating the habit of content the following sug- 
gestions may be found helpful : — 

(1) When tempted to murmur, never compare your con- 
dition with that of those above yon, but ahuays with that of 
those beneath you. Are you complaining of the straitness 
of your lot ? Go and visit the really poor. When you 
see a condition compared with which yours is one of 
affluence, you will cease to murmur, and begin to praise. 
Wealth is a relative thing, and if we measure our desires 
by our condition, and not our condition by our desires, it 
will help us greatly in the securing of a contented spirit. 
" It is a huge folly/' says Jeremy Taylor, " rather to 
grieve for the good of others, than to rejoice for that 
good which God has given us of our own." 

(2) When tempted to murmur, consider how much better 
your case is than it might have been. To quote Jeremy 
Taylor again, " The very privative blessings which we 



36 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

commonly enjoy, deserve the thanksgiving of a whole 
life. Thou art quit of a thousand calamities, every one 
of which, if it were upon thee, would make thee insensi- 
ble of thy present sorrow." The habit of thanking God 
for what has not happened is a most helpful one. We 
have the example of the Psalmist to guide us here. In 
the 103d Psalm we have no sweeter strain than that in 
which the Psalmist sings, " He hath not dealt with us 
after our sins ; nor rewarded us according to our iniqui- 
ties. " To read what is, in the light of what might have 
been, is one of the paths to a contented spirit. 

(3) When tempted to murmur, remember that God is at 
work upon your life, making it after His pattern, and that 
He has ordered all your circumstances in accordance with 
His purpose. All things are not merely for good, but for 
the best. If we are the Lord's, and have really put our- 
selves into his His hands for the fulfilment of His will, 
nothing can go wrong. Any change would be a change 
for the worse. No doubt it may not seem so. But it is 
so, and it is the privilege of faith to say it. That my 
circumstances are so different from those of others, that 
they are so much more trying, is no evidence that I am 
worse placed than they. God does not intend to make 
me the same as any one else, or He would have made my 
circumstances the same. They are the chisels He uses 
in hewing the statue, and He will use the best fitted for 
His purpose. When we remember that our God is 
almighty and all-loving, how unreasonable does all mur- 
muring appear ! To complain of our lot is as foolish as 
to complain that God made us men, and not angels or stars. 

(4) But the supreme secret of content is to have the 
mind set on God. We are restless till we reach Him. 
He is the centre of all life, and the point of perfect rest. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 37 

When we are able to say with the Psalmist, " Whom 
have I in heaven but Thee, who is there on earth whom 
I desire beside Thee ?" — when G-od is our all in all, then 
this blessed secret has been learned. Nothing can then 
disturb our peace. For we are more taken up with the 
Giver than with any of His gifts. And if the gifts are 
removed, we remember that nothing can remove the 
Giver. So in the greatest straits we can rejoice, like 
that poor woman, who, sitting down to a crust of bread 
and a cup of cold water, gave thanks in the words, " All 
this, and God too." 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE ASPIRATIOX AFTER POWER TO REDEEM THE TIME. 

" Redeeming the time " (Eph. v. 16). 

" So teach us to number our days, that we may apply 
our hearts unto wisdom " (Psa. xc. 12). Here is the 
prayer of a man who aspired after power to redeem 
the time ! He felt the moral value of time. He knew 
that God had given us but a short time on earth, but that 
on the right use of that time eternity depends. He felt- 
also the exceeding difficulty of redeeming the time. So, 
in his helplessness, he casts himself on God. " So teach 
us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts 
unto wisdom." 

There were three facts of life which impressed this 
Psalmist, and which should impress us with the urgency 
of making a right use of our time : — 

(1) He saw that life is short. 

To this writer, old as he was, man appeared like a 



38 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

bubble on the stream. He had himself seen a whole 
generation swept away. So he cries, "Thou carriest 
them away as with a flood ; they are as asleep : in the 
morning they are like grass that groweth up. In the 
morning it flourisheth and groweth up; in the evening 
it is cut down and withereth " (Psa. xc. 5). 

And we, too, see that life is short. Year hurries after 
year, and not a year passes in which we have not to lay 
to rest those who are dear to us. Our experience con- 
firms the word of the Apostle James, who says, "What 
is your life ? It is even as a vapor which appeareth for 
a little while, and then vanisheth away" (J as. iv. 14). 

(2) He saw that life is sorrowful. 

Short as life is, it is full of trouble. Sickness, pain, 
sorrow, and care pursue man from the cradle to the grave. 
" The days of our years are three score years and ten ; 
and if by reason of strength they be four score, yet is 
their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, 
and we fly away " (Psa. xc. 10). 

We, too, see that life is sorrowful. Our world is not 
less troubled than that in which the Psalmist lived. The 
squalor, poverty, and wretchedness around us are such 
as sometimes fill us with dismay. 

(3) He sqiv that life is sinful. 

In this lies the explanation of the shortness and the 
sorrowfulness of human life. " We are consumed by 
Thy anger, and by Thy wrath are we troubled. Thou 
hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in 
the light of Thy countenance" (Psa. xc. 7). Man was 
not meant to suffer ; man was not meant to die. He was 
meant to live for ever, blessed beyond thought, in the 
fellowship of God ; but sin was his undoing, bringing 
with it its wages, which is death. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 39 

These are the three great facts of life which reveal to 
us alike the urgency and the difficulty of redeeming the 
time. Life is short ; therefore our opportunities are few 
and passing. Life is sorrowful ; therefore we are apt to 
be discouraged, and to let things drift. Life is sinful ; 
therefore, if we would redeem the time, we must not only 
overcome adverse circumstances without, but a far worse 
enemy, the evil heart of unbelief within. These facts, 
then, give us our directions how to act. 

(1) Because life is sinful let us quickly learn the lesson of 
forgiveness. This is God's first word to us. If we are 
not forgiven, it is impossible for us to redeem the time. 
We cannot live one moment aright. We are the enemies 
of God, and every moment in peril. The one thing 
needful for us is to " believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and be saved." 

And if we have learned the lesson of forgiveness, we 
must learn also the secret of victory. To redeem the time 
while sin has dominion over us is impossible. To make 
the best use of life while we are slaves is impossible. 
We must be made free men if we are to do God the ser- 
vice He seeks of our hand. The man who has not learned 
to trust Christ as his sanctification wastes the greater 
part of his life in ineffectual struggles against the forces 
of sin within him. 

(2) Because life is sorrowful let us quickly learn the 
secret of GocVs peace. To those who visit among the 
poor it is a familiar truth that their poverty and trouble 
lie at the root of their idleness and thriftlessness. The 
man who feels that by the hardest work he can perform 
he can only make himself a little more comfortable than 
by doing nothing is apt to think that his comfort may be 
too clearly bought. If we are to redeem the time, we 



40 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

must be saved from discouragement. Worry is one of 
the greatest wasters of time as well as of strength that 
can be named. He who is kept by the peace of God 
will do infinitely more work and better work than the 
man whose mind is worried and distressed. Whatever 
takes friction out of life increases its working power. 

(3) Because life is short let us learn that every moment 
of it must be filled. The two greatest enemies to the right 
use of our time are idleness and purposelessness. When 
under the power of the one we do nothing ; when under 
the power of the other we do nothing useful. Now both 
idleness and waste of time are terribly common. But 
for them both we may be delivered by a deeper con- 
sciousness of God, and of our accountability to Him. 
Under the guidance of His Spirit we may occupy every 
moment, and hallow our whole life by a holy intention. 

That we may do this, several things are necessary. 

The first of these is that we begin the day with God. 
The importance of the " Morning Watch " cannot be over- 
estimated. We have to pray with the Psalmist, " Cause 
me to hear Thy loving kindness in the morning" (Psa. 
cxliii. 8), if we would occupy the day well. 

The second is that through the whole day we seek the 
direction of God. It is not in man that walketh to direct 
his steps ; and the day is lost in which we seek to do our 
own will. This was what the holy men of old felt when 
they prayed so earnestly : " Cause me to know the way 
in which I should walk, hold up my goings in Thy 
paths " (Psa. cxliii. 8). 

A third necessary thing for a redeemed clay is the 
Divine protection. We are surrounded with enemies 
who will entrap us and draw us away from God. We 
need all the day to be hid under the shelter of God's wing. 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 41 

And the fourth thing necessary is Divine empower- 
ment. When we know God's will we must be taught to 
do it. We must not only be shown the path, but led in 
it. But if we are Divinely directed, Divinely protected, 
Divinely empowered, and if from morning to night we 
carry with us the consciousness of God, then will our 
days be redeemed. We shall abide in Christ, we shall 
abound in good works, and when He shall appear, we, 
by His grace, shall have confidence and not be ashamed 
before Him at His coming. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE ASPIRATION AFTER THE SEXSE OF DIVINE GUIDANCE. 

"Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk 1 ' (Psa. 
cxliii. 8). 

In every Christian's heart there is a deep desire to do 
the will of God. It is of the very essence of regeneration 
that it implants within the sonl a principle of life, which 
finds its supreme delight in the will of God. But with 
the desire to do the will of God there comes the desire to 
know it, and thus the question of guidance becomes one 
of the most practical of the Christian life. " I am per- 
fectly willing,*' cries one, " to do the will of God, but my 
difficulty is in knowing in particular cases what God's 
will for me is." 

That we may receive guidance is beyond doubt. The 
promises on this subject are innumerable. Our God 
takes upon Him the name of Shepherd ; but one of the 
first duties of the shepherd is to guide his sheep. In the 
thirty-second Psalm God promises, "I will guide thee 



42 THE CHRISTIAN* S ASPIRATIONS. 

with Mine eye." In the forty-eighth Psalm we read, 
" This God is onr God for ever and ever ; He will be our 
guide even unto death." Isaiah gives us the promise, 
" The Lord shall guide thee continually/' and Zecharias 
tells us that one of the objects of the advent of Christ 
was that He might " guide our feet into the way of peace." 
Without question, we may receive guidance from God as 
to His will. 

But ere we go further it may be well to recall the 
conditions of guidance. They are set before us in the 
twenty-third Psalm. To be guided we must first of all 
be among the Lord's sheep. It is those who willingly 
follow the Shepherd whom He is able to lead. If we 
know not the Shepherd, in guidance we have neither 
part nor lot. Then if we are to be guided, we must 
know something of rest of soul. It is after He has made 
His sheep to lie down, that the Shepherd leads them by 
the waters of rest. To worry about guidance is the 
surest way to lose it. Here is the secret of the failure 
of many of God's children to hear His voice. Let us be 
at rest, let us be sure that the guidance will be given. 
Then we shall be in the best possible condition to receive 
it when it comes. 

And notice very carefully, it may be given without 
our being at all sensible of it. We must distinguish 
between guidance and sensible guidance. If we are the 
Lord's people, and honestly commit our way to Him, we 
shall be guided. But we may have no comfortable sense 
of it. We may lay our case before God in all sincerity. 
We may ask Him to make His will clear to us, and may 
be perfectly whole-hearted- in our determination to do 
it when it is made clear to us. Yet God may leave us, 
even at critical moments in our life's history, without 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 43 

the smallest gleam of the light we perhaps imagined 
would come. 

In such circumstances, how are we to act ? Surely in 
faith. God has promised to guide us ; we have asked 
Him to guide us ; we are honestly desirous of doing His 
will ; it is therefore our duty to believe that He does 
guide us, even when we do not feel His guidance. We 
act to the best of our judgment, and we have the right 
to believe that behind our judgment there is the Spirit 
of our Father, leading us according to our prayer to do 
our Father's will. 

But we may not only receive guidance, but be sensible 
of it. This adds immensely to our comfort. When 
feeling reinforces faith, we act more joyfully. The 
Israelites of old were not only guided, but guided by 
the pillar of cloud and fire. God was with them, and 
they knew it. Now, what do we read in Isaiah xxx. 21 ? 
" Thine ears shall hear a word b'ehind thee, saying, This 
is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, 
and when ye turn to the left." Here there is promised 
not only guidance, but the sense of it. The word is to 
be heard at each turning-point of the way, discovering 
the path of the Divine will. Now, what was contained 
in this promise of the prophet is certainly contained in 
the promise of our Lord regarding the Holy Spirit. He 
is to be our guide, making known to us our Father's 
will. 

The conditions on which we receive this sensible 
guidance are these : — 

(1) If we would have sensible guidance, ice must ask 
for it. There must be on our part the recognition that 
we cannot guide ourselves. This is part of that spirit 
of humility which is so essential at every stage of the 



44 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

spiritual life. It is the meek that God has promised to 
guide in judgment ; it is the meek to whom He has prom- 
ised to teach His way. But this meekness means the 
spirit that distrusts its own wisdom, and looks up to God 
in prayer. The explanation of the lack of sensible guid- 
ance in some lives is that they have never really asked 
for it. 

(2) If we would have sensible guidance, tve must wait 
for it. To ask, but not to wait, betokens insincerity in 
the asking. When we pray God to guide us, we put the 
matter at issue out of our hands into His ; when we act 
without waiting for guidance, we take it out of God's 
hands into our own. It were better not to ask for guid- 
ance at all, than, having asked, to act without waiting 
for it. To wait may be exquisitely trying, but it must 
be done. This is one of the great lessons that we learn 
from the life of Elijah. He waited at the brook Cherith 
until it was dry, and did not move until the word of the 
Lord came to him. Meekness, to which the promise of 
guidance is made, involves patience as well as humility. 

(3) If we would have God's guidance, we must be ready 
to act on it without questioning, the moment it is given. 
God will not guide a disobedient child, or one who has 
the slightest intention of being disobedient. If we ask 
God for guidance, and when he gives it to us refuse to 
follow it, we become incapable of hearing God's voice 
until we have confessed our sin, and received cleansing. 
For God usually guides by whispers, and those who would 
be guided by Him must keep near Him. 

When our Father means to give us very clear indica- 
tions of His will, He very often makes these three things 
to occur — His Spirit, His Word, and His Providence. 
There arises within us a convinction that a certain course 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 45 

is the right one for us to take ; then we find through the 
Word some confirmation of this feeling, and straightway 
God's providence almost shuts us up to this course. It 
is very delightful when this happens. It would happen 
much more frequently were we living nearer God than 
we are. 

Let us give ourselves up to be filled and controlled by 
the Spirit. Let us walk in the Spirit, and He will lead 
us only in the paths of God's will. 



CHAPTEE XL 

THE ASPIRATION AFTER THE POWER TO WAIT. 

The value of the grace of patience in the spiritual life 
is universally recognized. A high place is given to it in 
Scripture, and a high place has always been assigned to 
it in the esteem of Christian people. Now, this grace of 
patience has two elements in it. The first is power to 
endure, and the second is power to wait. The one has a 
relation to suffering, the other a relation to time. The 
two elements are separable in thought and experience, 
some who have the one being conspicuously lacking in 
the other. It is with the second of these that we hai^e 
now to do. 

The Word of God sets a high value on patience in the 
sense of power to wait. It often exhorts to it : " Rest in 
the Lord, and wait patiently for Him," cries one (Psa. 
xxxvii. 7) ; " The Lord is a God of judgment, blessed are 
all they that wait for Him," says another (Isa. xxx. 18) ; 
while a third says, " It is good that a man both hope and 
quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord" (Lam. iii. 26). 



46 THE CHRISTIAN 1 S ASPIRATIONS. 

This power to wait may be lacking in a character 
otherwise strong and beautiful. Scripture supplies us 
with many instances of the lack of it, and of the mis- 
chief done for the want of it. It might almost be said 
that the very fall of man was due to this. Had our first 
mother Eve only had the power to wait, she would not 
have snatched at that knowledge which God had for a 
time denied to man. Haste, as well as unbelief and self- 
will, was an element leading to that sin which 

u Brought death into the world, and all our woe." 

In Abraham we have another instance of the same 
thing. To him the promise of God was given that he 
should be the father of nations. He believed God, and 
his faith was accounted to him for righteousness. But, 
though strong in faith, he was lacking in patience. So 
he fell in with the plan of his wife Sarah for the procur- 
ing of a seed, and laid up for himself and his wife a 
heavy store of family trouble. 

The same impatience appears in Rebekah in connection 
with the promise made to her favorite son Jacob. Here 
the results were even more disastrous than in the previ- 
ous case. In both these cases we have a faith that could 
lay hold on the Divine promise, without the patience 
which could wait for God to fulfil His promise in His 
own way. 

I believe that this impatience is at the root of a great 
deal of the worldliness in the Church of Christ to-day, 
which we all so much deplore. Men want immediate 
results, which they can report to the world. They are 
not content that one should sow and another reap. They 
are not content with the promise, " My Word shall not 
return to Me void." They want visible signs of success, 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 47 

ample funds, large communion rolls, crowded churches. 
And to gain these, some men have gone to the theatre 
manager, to teach them how to carry on the work of the 
Church of God. 

But while the Bible supplies us with instances of the 
lack of this grace, it also supplies us with notable in- 
stances of its presence. Perhaps the noblest Old Testa- 
ment case is that of David. Here was a man to whom 
God had promised the throne of Israel. He believed 
God. He knew he would be king of Israel. But he 
would not take the fulfilment of the Divine promise into 
his own hands. Twice, at Engedi and at the Hill of 
Hachilah, his relentless foe lay sleeping under the edge 
of his sword, but he would not touch him. He had the 
power to wait. He knew that the God who had promised 
was also able to perform. 

But the supreme example is our Blessed Lord Him- 
self. There are few things about the life of our Lord 
more impressive than His patience. Was there ever a 
life where there was such temptation to haste ? The 
world was dying around Him. He spent thirty years of 
His life on earth in almost complete obscurity, and even 
when He began His work in public, nothing could make 
Him hurry. When at Cana His mother urges Him to 
act, He says, " My hour is not yet come." When Martha 
and Mary would have Him haste to the rescue of their 
brother, He abides two days in the same place. Our 
Lord Jesus had this grace of waiting in absolute perfec- 
tion. 

This power to wait has its roots in confidence in God. 
It is he who believeth, who shall not make haste. Now 
the faith that gives us patience is a twofold faith. It 
is, first of all, a faith in God as a God of love. When 



48 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIBATIONS. 

we are quite sure of this, we become willing to wait, 
because we know so well that time will vindicate God. 
In patience we possess our souls. Then it is a faith in 
our own immortality. We know that God will not only 
vindicate Himself, but that we shall see it: So we are 
kept quiet. 

We shall now seek to discover what will be the atti- 
tude of a man's mind toward God, when he has attained 
it to the grace of patience in this sense. An examina- 
tion of the various words used for " waiting " throws 
light on this point. 

When a man truly waits for God, his attitude is — 

(1) An attitude of Silence. 

In many places in our Bible the words " Wait on the 
Lord," might be rendered " Be silent unto the Lord." 
This is the idea presented to us when it is said, " It is 
good that a man both hope and quietly ivait for the salva- 
tion of the Lord" (Lam. iii. 26). 

(2) An attitude of Devotion. 

In one of the words used for " waiting," the root idea 
is to adhere. This is the word used in that beautiful 
passage, Isa. lxiv. 4, where we read of the God, " Who 
worketh for Him that waiteth for Him." 

(3) An attitude of Watchfulness. 

He who is waiting for God to work will have his eyes 
ever towards the Lord, that he may catch the first signs 
of his Father's working. He will eagerly study every 
revelation God has given of his purpose, he will avail 
himself of every help, seeking to hold himself ready to 
act whenever God calls him to be a fellow-worker. 

(4) An attitude of Intense Desire. 

One of the words for " wait " comes from a root that 
means "to writhe as in pain." This shows us that al- 



THE CHRISTIANS ASPIRATIONS. 49 

though a man may be content to wait until God acts, he 
may at the same time he consumed with the desire that 
God should act at once. He may feel with terrible 
keenness the need of Divine interference, and may cry 
out for it, while all the time waiting patiently. 

As we close this chapter, let us notice how all these 
characteristics of true waiting are seen in connection 
with the great hope of the Church — the coming of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. For that we are looking. For that 
we are waiting. And as we wait, what is, or ought to 
be, our attitude ? Surely one of silence, as of those 
who are listening for the footsteps of the returning Lord. 
Surely one of devotion, as of those who desire to abide 
in Him, that when He shall apx^ear they may have con- 
fidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 
Surely one of watchfulness. Has not the Lord bidden 
us watch ? And will not obedience to His command 
lead us to treasure and study every hint He has given 
as to the time when His return may be expected ? And, 
finally, one of intense desire, as of those who have heard 
the Master say, " Behold, I come quickly " ; and answer 
back with gladness, " Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus. '' 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE ASPIRATION AFTER A COMPLETE LIFE. 

" Ye are complete in Hirn " (Col. ii. 10). 

What a glorious fulness of being there is in our God ! 
He is always fulhorbed. He is infinite, eternal, and un- 
changeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, jus- 
tice, goodness, and truth. And the longing for fulness 



50 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

of life, which is found in every true Christian, is the 
mark of his Divine lineage. It is because man is so 
great, and has been made in the likeness of God, and by 
regeneration become a partaker of the Divine nature, that 
he so cries out against the things which narrow and cramp 
his life. He who has tasted what communion with God 
means, longs to know what is " the fulness of the bless- 
ing of the Gospel of Christ." We shall now mention 
some of the elements that enter into the life of fulness 
of blessing, and then indicate in a word or two the path 
which leads to this fulness. 

(1) In the complete life there is, first of all, a fulness 
of Faith. 

This is the foundation grace. He that cometh unto 
God must believe. Until there is faith, there is no spir- 
itual life at all. 

Look at the case of Abraham. Of him the Scripture 
expressly says that he died in a good old age, an old 
man, and full. In his case the aspiration we are dealing 
with had been fulfilled. He had lived to have a com- 
plete life. But what was the foundation of Abraham's 
life ? Was it not faith ? He was the father of the 
faithful. He was strong in faith, giving glory to God. 
It was the greatness of Abraham's faith that made it 
possible for God to raise on it a character of such strength 
and beauty. If we would have a complete life, let us 
pray daily, "Lord, increase our faith." 

(2) In a complete life there is a fulness of Light. He 
to whom the fulness of the blessing has come has his 
eye single, and therefore his whole body is full of light. 
He is by the Spirit of God led into the knowledge of 
God. God's Word is to him an open book, and he has 
an increasing knowledge of, and sympathy with, the 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 51 

plans and purposes of his Father in heaven. Along 
with this he finds himself in possession of a wonderful 
knowledge of God's will. He knows by a Divine leading 
what God would have him be, and by the impartation of 
divine wisdom how God would have him do it. To live 
thus in the light, to be thus freed from perplexity and 
doubt, is one of the highest privileges of the life of 
fulness of blessing. 

(3) In a complete life there is a fulness of Patience. 
How remarkably this was manifested in the life of 

Abraham ! He had the grace of patience in its two 
forms — he had the power to surfer, and the power to 
wait. How severely his patience was tried ! God made 
many promises to Abraham, but Abraham must have 
thought God took long to fulfil them. Think what a 
trial of patience the continued barrenness of Sarah must 
have been. It was such a trial that the patience of 
Abraham at last gave way under it, and in the matter 
of Hagar he tried to take the fulfiling of the Divine 
promises into his own hands. Now, where the life is 
full of blessing, the Spirit of God works such confidence 
in our God that we possess a patience entirely super- 
natural. 

(4) In a complete life there is a fulness of Grace. 

He who has entered into fulness of blessing has a 
courtesy and gentleness, a humility and tenderness about 
him which is most attractive. There is a wonderful 
civilizing and ennobling power about the grace of God. 
When it takes possession of a man, it greatly modifies, 
if it does not remove, the roughnesses and rudenesses 
of his character. It clothes him in the beauty of the 
Lord. It gives him that consideration for others, which 
is the very foundation of good breeding. In all the great 



52 THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 

saints this graciousness is found. We find it in Abra- 
ham's treatment of the children of Heth, in David's 
treatment of Saul, and it is conspicuous in every action 
of the life of Paul the Apostle. And these were only 
followers of Him in whom all true grace of character 
was found in absolute perfection. 

(5) In a complete life there is a wonderful fulness of 
Brotherly Love. This is a grace of superlative impor- 
tance. He who has not learned to love the brethren 
with a pure heart fervently has yet to learn what the 
fulness of the blessing of the Gospel is. He whose 
religion does not make him kinder, more loving, more 
willing to do helpful things, had better give his religion 
up, for it is certainly not the religion of Jesus Christ. 
To this grace of kindness and helpfulness, our Lord at- 
taches such importance that in the great parable of the 
Sheep and the Goats He has made the want of it 
the cause of banishment from the presence of God into 
the everlasting fire. 

(6) But the crowning grace of the life of blessing is 
that which again and again in the New Testament is 
called Love. 

We are told that the three chief graces of the Chris- 
tian character are faith, hope, love ; and the greatest 
of these is love. Now what is this love which is the 
copestone of the temple of Christian character ? I think 
it is the life of God in the soul. It is what our Lord 
spoke of when He said, " If a man love Me, he will keep 
My words, and My Father will love him, and We will 
come unto him, and make Our abode with him." The 
fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ is the 
fulness of the Holy Spirit. The complete life for which 
we are longing is the life filled with God. He who is 



THE CHRISTIAN'S ASPIRATIONS. 53 

filled with God is filled with love. For what saith the 
Apostle ? " God is love : and he that dwelleth in love 
dwelleth in God, and God in him" (1 John iv. 16). 

Such is the complete life after which we are longing. 
A word or two as to the path that leads to it. 

If we study the life of Abraham, we shall find that 
the path to fulness is through a process of emptying. Of 
Abraham we read that he died an old man, and full. 
But look at the way God had to lead that man before 
this could be written of him. He had first to separate 
him from home and kindred, and send him out a stranger 
upon the earth. Then He had, in connection with the 
strife with Lot, to separate him from the love of earthly 
riches ; then He had to wean him from all self-will in 
the manner of fulfiling His promises. And at last He 
had to wean him from God's best gifts. When Abraham 
laid Isaac on the altar, and raised the knife that was to 
make his life an utter desolation ; when he was cut off 
from everything on earth, and driven back on God alone, 
when he was thoroughly emptied, then it was that God 
poured into his life the very fullest blessing God Himself 
could give. " By Myself have I sworn, because thou hast 
done this thing, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in 
thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." 

By the same path of utter emptying must we reach 
the life of fulness. If God comes to strip us of all that 
makes life rich, let us not shrink from His hand. For 
the hand that empties is the hand that will fill unto all 
the fulness of God. 

" Take us, Lord, Oh, take us truly, 

Mind, and heart, and soul, and will ; 
Empty us and cleanse us throughly, 
Then with all Thy fulness fill." 



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